MLB Weekend Watch: Braves or Nats -- who would be tougher out in playoffs?

Sam Miller: The unsatisfying answer is that it's the Nationals because it's easier to beat a far superior opponent in a smaller sample than a larger one. If the Nationals get past the wild-card game, they'll face the Dodgers in a best-of-five series. If the Braves get past the division series, they'll meet the Dodgers in a best-of-seven. But take that technicality out of it, and Eddie's probably right. Washington has the edge at the top of the rotation, but if we look at each team just in games that their top three have started, the Nationals haven't actually shown that advantage: They're 47-32 when Scherzer, Strasburg or Corbin starts, while the Braves are 46-22 when Max Fried, Dallas Keuchel or Mike Soroka does. The Nationals' bullpen is just toxic.

David Schoenfield: It's pretty remarkable, really: Even with that toxic bullpen, the Nationals do have that best record in the majors over an extended period of time. That suggests that they're so good everywhere else that they can overcome the bullpen, although I have a difficult time imagining Fernando Rodney getting through Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Max Muncy in a crucial situation. So maybe it gets to some of the other matchups, and since the Dodgers are better against right-handed pitching with all their lefty mashers (their OPS is 45 points higher against righties), maybe the Braves with lefty starters Fried and Keuchel have an edge there, as the Nationals have just one lefty in Corbin. Then again, Soroka's OPS against lefties is 200 points higher than vs. righties, so that's a tough matchup for him. I guess I'm back to Fernando Rodney. The Braves are the tougher foe.

With a nod toward Sunday night's Yankees-Red Sox game (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) and to Buster Olney (we're stealing his Twitter poll question), what do you think will happen to Mookie Betts -- he gets traded this winter, he gets traded next summer, he leaves Boston as a free agent after 2020, or he signs a long-term deal to stay with the Sox? 

Matz: As disappointing as this season has been for Boston, there's no reason to think that the defending champs can't rebound and make another run next year, which is why general manager Dave Dombrowski won't trade Betts this winter. If the World Series hangover lingers into 2020 and the Sox find themselves hovering around .500 next July, I could see Dealer Dave going the Manny Machado route and shipping Mookie elsewhere to restock a farm system that has fallen on hard times. But I don't think that happens. As for an extension, I don't think that happens either because Betts is too in touch with the whole marketing and business side of things. Despite the recent free-agent depression, he knows he could make a killing. Which is exactly what will happen.

Miller: OK, I could maybe imagine a big-market team that's projected to win, say, 90-92 wins next year, in a tough division, deciding that Mookie Betts would be the difference between making and missing the 2020 postseason. And maybe it thinks continuity would give it a better chance of signing him when he hits free agency, so there would be some extra benefit to having him on the team before his walk year. Put those together and maybe that club would be willing to offer something absolutely overwhelming to employ him for the 2020 season. The team that best describes is ... the Red Sox. They'll keep him until his free agency, and then they'll be the favorite to re-sign him.

Schoenfield: My prediction: Mookie stays ... and then Mookie leaves as a free agent. (He signs with the Angels to give Mike Trout some help, plus Mookie will relish being out of the media spotlight in Boston and letting Trout be the guy. Or maybe he signs with the Rangers, who will need a star attraction in the second year of their new park. Wait, the Astros! George Springer and Michael Brantley are also free agents after 2020. How about the Braves? Mookie is from Tennessee and that's close to home. Or maybe ...)

There are a few other series with potential playoff teams squaring off: Indians-Twins, Cubs-Brewers and Phillies-Mets. Which of those series do you find most intriguing?

Miller: The Cubs and Brewers, just because of the animus. None of these teams are really competing with each other for a playoff spot right now: The Twins have a firm grip on the American League Central, the Phillies and Mets are playing more for respectability and relevance than realistic hopes, and the Brewers are almost certainly gassed out. But the Brewers and Cubs can at least play for the privilege of severely harshing a rival's mood. The Cubs can essentially end the Brewers' season; the Brewers could move the panic index in Chicago to orange.